Pakistan Army Claims 'Phenomenal Successes' In Antiterror Operation

The Pakistani military says it has achieved "phenomenal successes" in the war against terrorism by killing 3,400 militants over the past 18 months.

Army spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa said in a statement issued on December 12 that 488 security personnel were also killed and 1,914 others wounded since June 2014, when the army launched a major operation in North Waziristan, a tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Security forces are currently clearing out the "last pockets" of insurgents in their former stronghold of North Waziristan, he added.

The statement said 837 hideouts used by "terrorists" have been destroyed so far and their main infrastructure dismantled.

The military has stepped up its fight against terrorism since a December 2014 attack on a school in Peshawar killed nearly 150 people, mostly children.

The Pakistani Taliban and other groups have been fighting to overthrow the government in Islamabad.